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Saturday, September 22, 2012

And, so, the Soumak Pouch Weave Along draws to a close with a very long video on finishing techniques.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Here are the chapters in the final installment:
1- Steam, Press and block the finished weaving
2- Overcast the straight edge of the inside front of the pouch
3- Making the point for the tip of the pouch
4- How to do the chain stitch embroidery
5- Cut out a lining
6- How to stitch the lining to the pouch invisibly
7- Stitch the side seams
8- Sew on the snaps
9-
Stitching the edging cords to the pouch - in the video, I show how to
add things like large beads at the ends and center of the cord, as well
as the swivel clip hook. I also show how to stitch size 8 seed beads to
the edging to embellish it. You don't have to add these extra
flourishes, but I thought that it made sense to show you how to do it so
you ~could~ do it, if you want to.
It's the embellishments that make the pouch the truly individual statement of your creativity!
And, here's the video:

Happy Weaving!
I hope that you have had fun weaving your Soumak pouch!
And, cheerio, this is my last post on 'A Word From Elena'
:o) Noreen

Starting at the left hand side, the cords are:
Square cord spool knitted with 2 colors on 4 pegs,
Cord Spool knitted with 3 pegs
Kumihimo cords - the directions for how to braid the round cords come with the Kumihimo kit from Mirrix
Tubular Peyote stitch cord- instructions are available in beading books and when you google 'tubular peyote stitch'.
And
last, but certainly NOT least, and definitely the fastest, easiest cord
of all to make is the Simple Twisted cord, using the method that I have
developed, using a spool and a crochet hook.
You will need a cord that is about 15 inches (37.5 cm) long to go around the sides and upper edge of your pouch.
The instructions for how to attach them to your pouch will be in the final installment of the Weave Along: Finishing Techniques.

Here are some videos that I have made to help you make your decorative edging cords:
How to spool knit a cord with just 3 of the 4 pegs on the spool knitter:

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Part 5 of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along is a step by step series of
photos that I took while we were on holidays at the end of August.
I
adapted the pattern to have checkerboard borders and wove the Soumak
pouch on my Mirrix Mini (5 inches wide... perfect traveling loom).

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Here's how the pattern looks with the black and white checked borders:

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If
I had wanted to make the pouch wider, I could have added 's' hooks to
the side and just added the checked squares to the pattern.
Adding 2 more 's' hooks at the top and bottom on both sides would have added one inch (2.5 cm) to the width of the pouch.
I wanted the squares to be symmetrical ﻿off a central square, so I had to do some fancy footwork with working out the size of the squares.
Here's what I decided: Here's the graph for the lower border of the pouch:
Each square represents one strand of warp:

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And now... to the step by step photos: Photographed in Jasper Alberta Canada

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And, here is the finished pouch: Woven in Lamb's Pride yarn from the Mirrix kit:

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The embroidery is worked with Kreinik threads.
There is an amethyst bead on the center of the back of the pouch.﻿
Happy Weaving! :o)
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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

The video for Part 4 of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along is a really big
one because it's the 'how to's' for the actual weaving of the pouch.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

Here's what's covered in this video:

How to weave the 4:2 Soumak border

How to weave the 2:1 body of the pouch

How to add more weft yarn when you run out

How to add new colors

How to change colors and make perfect joins between the color blocks

How to step colors sideways in an outward direction

How to step colors sideways in an inward direction

How to work horizontal stripes

How to do the 'Topsy Turvey Trick' with the Mini loom

How to remove the weaving from the Mini

When
I went through the video after the final rendering, I smacked my hand
to my forehead a couple of times as my directional challenges clearly
pop up in the video- arghhhhhhhhh.......... several times, I call the
left hand side of the loom, the ~right~ hand side. arghhhhhhh
And, at one point, I called the weft, 'warp'............. oh sigh............. so please forgive me for the errors.
Luckily, pretty quickly, I do say the ~correct~ thing. But still........... arghhhhhhhhhhhh.............
And,
no, I am not willing to re-shoot the video..... there are days and days
and days of shooting, and so I am not going back to do it again.
Said in the nicest possible way, with really the minimum of snarls and snaps. :D
Anyhow.... I hope that you will have a WONDERFUL time weaving your pouches!
Without
further ado, here's the video: (bugs and all- and dogs barking and rain
raining and thunder thundering.... the dogs were freaked out by the
lighting and thunder, so they were indulging in a LOT of vocalizing
about the bad bad sky!)

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Today's installment of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along is a video
tutorial about warping the looms for the 'no warp ends' technique that
will be the foundation of the Soumak Pouches.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

There are a number of hints and tips that I have found that make warping for the pouches much quicker and easier.
The video shows how to warp the 8 inch and 12 inch Mirrix looms, using 's' hooks.
The Mini (5 inch loom) is warped using the 'no warp ends' kit from Mirrix.
The looms are almost gift wrapped after warping!
Really? Yes :)
I
have found that using ribbons to tie around the 's' hooks on the lower
edge of the 8 inch, 12 inch or larger Mirrix looms keeps the weft yarn
from getting snagged on the hooks while weaving.
And, the Mini wears little babushkas or headscarves!
Yep.
I tie bias tape or ribbon around the ends to cover the paper clips and
keep them from snagging on clothing and to protect them.
I know it may seem odd, but it makes the weaving go more smoothly.

Here's the video that shows how the warping is done for the Weave Along:

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

I am sure that everyone who is participating in the Soumak Pouch
Weave Along wants to create a finished piece that is completely unique.
So, that's why I am sharing a few design notes.

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

In Part One of the Weave Along LINK I posted my design for the Soumak Pouch.
How did I come up with this design, and how can you make it be a reflection of your personality?
I started the design process by thinking of the rug that was in my grandmother's dining room when I was a little girl:

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I spent many a happy hour on that carpet, when I was a child, playing with my cousins.
The flowers became a deeply ingrained part of my 'pattern language'.
So,
when I was designing the pouch, it was natural to look at the flowers
in the carpet and see if there was a starting point there.
Indeed there was, and I sketched and played with variations on carpet flowers:

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I traced out lots of copies of the prototype pattern.
I find that tracing the pattern by hand is better for me than scanning and printing the pattern.
When
my hand and eyes are quietly engaged in tracing the design, then
connections are made that are really helpful in making creative leaps.
I choose aquarelles (watercolor pencils) that matched my weft colors.
Then,
I colored lots and lots of variations on the theme, playing with
combinations of colors and trying to push myself to use the weft colors
in ways that I might not have considered.
I also would make little sidebar colorways when I was uncertain about a specific motif in the pattern.
And, then, when I was happy, I started weaving.
As
I wove the prototype pouches, I discovered a few things: OOPS! The
weaving contracts when it's released from the loom, so it NEEDS a header
and footer beyond the pattern!
Also, I felt that making the
pattern more geometrical would make it more weaver-friendly, so I
re-designed the pattern to make it conform more closely to the warp
strands:

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I
felt constrained to stick to using only the colors of yarn that were in
the various kits and packages supplied by the yarn companies.
I didn't mix and match, BUT... you can feel totally free to use yarn from your stash to personalize your pouch.
The
only exception to the 'no stash' rule that I was following was that,
for the black and white checkered pouch, I did pull white wool from my
stash (well, my daughter in law's stash to be perfectly honest... bless her for her donation to the cause <3 and :D )

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In this photo, you'll see that I traced the pattern onto graph paper (4 squares to the inch or 2.5 cm).
(The photo of the pouch at the beginning of this post was woven with the Mirrix Soumak Pouch Kit yarns and this colorway.)
Graph paper is the top of the list of my favorite design tools.... it's a weaver's very good friend indeed!
Playing with graph paper allows you to try out all manner of interesting things.So, in a nutshell, what are the key points of designing a unique project?
1- Look for a starting point in something that you love or are inspired by.
2- Be willing to make mistakes and to start over
3- Trace, don't print the extra copies of the design.
4- Use colors in ways that you might not usually consider when you are experimenting with your coloring pages.
BUT... if you have signature colors, then, of course, feel free to use them.
5- Make multiple color combination sidebars if you are uncertain about a part of the design.
6- Use graph paper to work out colorways and patterns.
7-
The ways that you choose to embellish your pouch will make your pouch
TOTALLY unique, as the finishing and embellishment techniques are
incredibly expressive :)

Sunday, September 2, 2012

Welcome to the first installment of the Soumak Pouch Weave Along!
I
hope that you are going to have a wonderful time, weaving one of a kind
pouches for your business cards and cellphone, or using it in any way
that appeals to you.
If you would like to join in the conversation, you can leave comments here on this blog,
as well as on the Mirrix facebook page LINK and the Mirrix Ravelry page: LINK

copyright Noreen Crone-Findlay

I will be demonstrating on the Mirrix 12 inch, 8 inch and 5 inch Mini, which is a totally magical little loom.
Because
of the small (but oh so perfect) size of the Mini, I have had to come
up with some fairly 'outside the box' ways of working with it for the
weave along- which certainly add to the functionality of this delightful
little loom!

HOW WILL THE WEAVE ALONG WORK?
I have made six video tutorials and one slide show (so far) for the Weave Along.
I will be posting installments of the Weave Along every Sunday and Wednesday from September 2, 2012 to September 23, 2012.
BUT...
you don't have to keep up with this pace.... you can follow along at
your own speed, as the blog posts are going to be here for as long as
Tottie still Talks Crafts!
I have covered a TON of information, and some of the videos are very long.
To make them as user friendly as possible, I have made chapter headings for each segment of the videos.
This means that you can stop the video and move back or forward to review anything you want to, at any time in the video.
Here's what the chapter headings look like:

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So, without further ado, lets get started!Here is the pattern for the Soumak Pouch:

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Print the pattern so that it is 3 inches wide and 10 inches long.
Print several copies.
And, now, for the video tutorial: (hope you enjoy it!)

Friday, August 31, 2012

One of the great things about weaving (and crafts in general) is that you have the ability to make things exactly how you want them. No searching in stores or compromising on quality.

I've jumped on the whole "colorblock" bandwagon this summer and I keep thinking how a colorblock bracelet would be the perfect pop to add to a bland outfit. I chose bright salmon, purply blue and black Delicas and some turquoise stones to make this simple but fun bracelet. The only trick was that my stones only had one hole and each stone equaled just about two rows of the Delicas so I had to somehow weave two rows of Delicas for each one row with a stone in it. I did this like this:

three salmon, one turquoise, three salmon

three salmon

then back through the previous row of three salmon, one turquoise, three salmon

three salmon

and then a new row of three salmon, one turquoise, three salmon

Using this method you build up one side at a time and then sew back through your previous row, build up the other side, and then begin a new row. This means that you are not always sewing through in the same direction like you would be if you were just weaving rows, but if the holes in your beads are big enough it's an easy way to get a nice big bead in the middle of your piece. I should also note that I used an 18 dent spring and left two dents in the middle of the piece without warps on them.

1/3 of the way up the piece I will switch to my black Delicas and 2/3 of the way up the piece I will switch to the purply blue. A fun weekend project perfect for anyone in your life who needs a little color!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Today, August 30th, is Mirrix President Claudia Chase's birthday. I won't tell you how old she is, but she is old enough to have me as a daughter and I'm 27. I've said too much. Point is, all of you should wish her a happy birthday! Head on over to our Facebook page and give her a little birthday shout out. Want to go a step further? Email her claudia@mirrixlooms.com claudia@mirrixlooms.com with a little birthday love!

In honor of her birthday we're having a 50% off sale on our 5 for $30.00 pattern package (designed by her). Code happybirthdayclaudia will get you all 5 kits for $15 at checkout.